Never grow up
by rizzledindigochaser5582
Summary: Anything could change in the blink of an eye. Little did Castle know his whole world would be turned upside down. What lengths does he go through to save one of the closest women in his heart, when they dissapear out of the blue?
1. Chapter 1

**Never grow up.**

**Summary: **_Anything could change in the blink of an eye. Little did Castle know his whole world would be turned upside down? What lengths does he go through to save a loved one?_

**A/N:**_ I know, this has to be my first Multi-parter (and update) in what feels like years! I've had a pretty crazy school year with camping, musical practice and loads of other things in between I've hardly got to come up with some inspiration for stories. But this story I wrote back when the 3xK promo was released and had everyone minds thinking it was in fact Alexis to be the one who was kidnapped. So I guess what I'm saying is…this story is about: What would happen if it was Alexis who was kidnapped? Keep in mind that I had a few chapters of this written before the episode aired ;)_

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own Castle or anything associated. Everything belongs to their rightful owners._

"Mother? MOTHER?" Richard Castle stared at his cell phone in wonder as his mother's voice still swirled around his mind, her croaking voice that had prompted his to answer back as soon as possible. But before he knew it, the line went dead which led him to his later action: To stare at the phone until it spoke back to him. Maybe she needed comforting after Chet's one month anniversary later that week or quite possibly, Gina had driven her up the wall to an extent that she had to get out of the god dammed loft.

"Castle. Are you waiting for the phone to speak back to you?" He glanced toward her for a brief moment, soon enough holding her gaze; long enough for Beckett to notice something was up. Tilting her head, she tried to find an answer through his facial expression, but this time she couldn't find anything. Not a single brow was arched, his lips didn't even twitch yet he continued to stare wide eyed at the gadget in his hand.

Something _definitely_ was up.

"Cause if you are, it won't"

This time his brows furrowed in a way that could only be achieved by Richard Castle and if she was correct, he was glaring at the screen with a small look of hatred glistening in his eyes. He began to tense up as she studied him more, she wasn't trying to freak him out; she just wanted him to be alright. His eyes flickered for a brief moment and he lowered the phone from his face and clutched it to his side.

The elevator dinged loudly and a distraught woman wandered from it, whipping her head about the place in a desperate act, until she noticed who she was looking for and Beckett made awkward eye contact with her; soon enough Castle had too. They could both see that deep look in her pale eyes, that trembling lower lip and how she clutched onto her handbag like the world depended on it. An unsettling feeling floated about the eerily silent bullpen, aside from the odd monitor beeping and people walking through; yet both knew bad news was to come. _Really_ bad news. Martha was just as hard to read as Castle, she guessed years of being a successful actress would do that to one and she slightly turned her head to look at Castle. Reaching out her hand to grasp onto her sons arm, she let her handbag slip to hang off her wrist and next she was grasping onto Beckett's. She felt Martha's shaking hand hug hers tightly as she allowed a single sentence escape her quivering lips.

"Alexis is gone, _oh Richard_"

She looked as if she was going to collapse into a bundle of tears on the floor as she struggled to contain herself, while Beckett felt the strangest feeling she had ever experienced before, shoot daggers down her spine as she hugged Martha. She couldn't pin point it but she knew it couldn't be good. What had her words meant? What happened Alexis? So many questions flooded her mind as she held Martha closer. She hated these types of situations but she considered Castle a valuable friend so she did what she knew would be best. She collapsed into her arms, while Beckett decided the only thing she could do to comfort her was rub her back and whisper soothing yet encouraging words in her ear.

"Gone where?" The worry was evident in his voice as Beckett pulled away and looked at him sincerely. She knew what was up now, and she prayed Alexis wasn't in as bad shape as she was visioning her to be. She knew how much this would kill Castle if he heard some scumbag had dared touch a dirty finger on her precious skin. It'd cut into him like a knife and cut him up into bits.

"Gone WHERE?"

"Richard dear, I—I don't _know where_, I-" Tears seeped from her eyes and Castle hammered his fist into the wall, specks of tears glistening at his eyes while she noticed his line began to tip downward.

The cutting had already begun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2.**

**Disclaimer:** _Yup I still don't own Castle._

Castle watched as Beckett led his distraught mother over to the break room table, and then searched for a box of tissues in one of the many cupboards until she finally produced a box, sliding it across the table; while Castle moved to be next to his mother. Beckett, slowly and softly asked her "Martha, tell me everything you know"

The usually vibrant woman held onto her sons hand firmly as words only managed to escape her lips. "Oh Kate, it was awful. I came home from a shopping spree and I- I" she broke down again, her body shaking at the thoughts that were probably very similar to those that Castle and Beckett had been thinking.

"It's alright Martha, you're doing great" Beckett looked at her closely; she could tell her words of encouragement could only last so long until the bad thoughts came flying back into her head again. Awful thoughts that never in a million years should have crossed her mind; but they did. There was nothing she could do about it either.

"I opened the d-door and the-" her voice cracked for a moment. "- the place was a wreckage" she sobbed as Castle gave Beckett wide eyes and stood, fiddling about with his thumbs. Kate glanced up at him and kindly excused herself from the table while she gestured for Lanie to come in a chat to Martha. The duo left the room and Castle headed straight for the elevator, leaving Kate to stare after him.

"Castle?"

"I'm going home" he declared, to which she jogged after him and grabbed his arm, stopping him dead in his tracks. He couldn't just force her away from him, after all she hand't done anything to hurt him; he had no right to hurt her back.

"Not alone you aren't" He looked defeated. His face gave it all away in a matter of seconds. "You're not going to listen if I say no, will you?"

She arched a brow. "Hardly"

He sighed and jammed his hand into the down button and the elevator opened, a few people spilling from the small metal box and as soon as he could he shot into it, eventually followed by Beckett. In her head she prayed that Alexis would be ok, that some bastard hadn't taken her and that this was just some sick joke. But Martha wouldn't possibly make up something as awful as what was quickly unfolding…could she?

"My car is-" she began, wandering toward her car; pulling her keys from her pocket while the roaring traffic passed her out. Half of her expected for him to follow closely, to run at any chance to get near a vehicle but then the other half was wrecking her head, chanting _'He won't come, he'll run the other way'._

"No, we'll be faster walking" he explained, walking on the other side of the street as she yelled across at him. Of course Castle would have to make things awkward.

"No, we'll be _SLOWER_ walking!"

"Well then, _RUN_!" he was almost bouncing with agitation, whipping his head about the place in search of the direction of his place. He'd be needing a compass at this stage, the buildings blending together to look like the ones he had just passed moments before.

"You said it first!" Pouting, she crossed the road putting her hand out to stop the taxi driver from running her over. The loud HONK of the horn echoed off the buildings and sent a shiver down her spine as she ran after Castle, who was already a few blocks down the street . For a writer who spent a lot of time behind a laptop, chatting up women and getting laid certain nights of the week; he was pretty fit. He darted down the street like a bolt of lightning, dust shooting up into mid air from the impact of his shoe on the paving and she struggled to keep up with him. Hurrying down the street, she was met with another street and luckily enough spotted Castle; attempting the sport _Hurdles _over plastic red and white construction barriers and squinted at his near miss to trip over one.

Kate found herself running faster, simply because she had promised herself that Castle was nothing but a hell hazard in this town and the last thing she needed was for him to wind up on a cold slab. With only about a meter away from them, she choked out a 'Castle!' and he stopped for a brief moment, looking back to find Kate doubled over and sent her an almost horrified look.

"Why are you stopping?"

She pointed her left hand toward a large apartment block and it finally dawned on him. He turned and ran for the door, and burst in through the hall; startling an elderly woman with silver hair and tight curls.

"He REALLY needed to go to the bathroom" she lied and the woman nodded, passing Kate a wink and wandered off on her merry way; leaving Kate to chase after her writer boy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Thank you so much for the sweet reviews last chapter! I'm so happy you guys are still reading :'D Hope you like this chapter!**

**Disclaimer:**** I still don't own Castle.**

"ALEXIS!" Castle yelled, flying into his home and allowed the door to swing violently off it's hinges while Kate wandered into the cosy loft, darting her eyes around the place. Everything flashed before their eyes, the smashed bowl and spilled water on the island unit, the ripped couch and all the sheet of paper that lay on the ground. The place had been destroyed in the space of about 6 to 7 hours. "ALEXIS!" Castle ran upstairs, flinging open doors fast enough that they banged harshly off the walls, sure to leave dents. He continued on with banging open doors, Kate squinted at the terrible noise he was making. He shot down the staircase, staring at the place he had once called home and then to Beckett who was picking up a sheet from the ground. Looking at it intensely, she glanced up at Castle who was growing frustrated by the second.

"It's a copy of Heat wave your standing on Castle, that's page seven" she handed him the sheet she had held and he cursed himself. This wasn't fair! Why torture Alexis just because they most likely wanted him instead?"

"Dammit!" he kicked the side of the couch, biting his lower lip as he curled up his toes in instant regret of taking his anger out on the couch. He kicked about the sheets of paper, then stopped; remembering Beckett was standing only a few metres from him.

"Castle, we'll find her. I promise"

"I should've stayed here, I shouldn't have gone to the precinct; I-"

"Castle" she started, watching as he started to doubt her words, then stare at the torn couch in disgust.

"Nothing you could've done would've prevented this from happening. Don't begin beating yourself up over something until we get some concrete facts alright?" she still remained in the position she had been, keeping them both a good distance apart and then tensed up as he let his eyes trail toward hers.

"How many of these cases that are solved, would the victim get out unharmed? On a scale of 1 to 10" her heartbeat became rapid, while the room felt like it was going to crush her in a matter of seconds. How could she possibly answer him? To tell him that the only little girl he has could most likely get hurt or injured because some SOB took her away from the one place she could call home? Gulping, her eyes fell to the floor and she squeezed her eyes shut before shooting her eyes to Castles. "5"

"This is all my fault" he panicked, something she had hoped wouldn't happen after she told him the scale result. She hated him being like this, Castle was the sun that shone through the dark cloud that floated over her heart; he was the one who would wash her pain away with a smile or a word.

"No Castle, it's not"

"It IS my fault"

"Ok then, it is your fault. You let some SOB get into your home, take your daughter to make you wish you hadn't stepped out that door this morning" she pointed at the door and then rested her teary eyes back to his and parted her lips. Castle stood shell shocked at first, registering each word she said until he wandered around his couch and sat down; then leaning forward and stared at the ground. Tears seeped from his eyes and Kate still found herself standing where she had been blaming him for everything. Her arms hung limply at her sides as she watched him break down on the couch, digging his fingers into his scalp as he tried to block the whole world from him..

"Castle…I'm sorry" she came to sit next to his tensed form, rubbing a sincere hand up and down his back while she dragged her gaze from him to the floor, not that the floor could offer her anything but hundreds of torn and crumpled draft sheets; but she couldn't pull herself together to look at Castle. She couldn't remember anything this close to her happen since the death of her Mom, since the year she spent in therapy and although she would only meet Alexis on brief encounters; she was the daughter of her friend and partner; and it hurt like hell.

He turned his head to see the tears seep from her eyes, attempting to hide them with a few strands of hair. Clamping his hand on hers, he was met with her tearful gaze and the attempt of a teary smile.

"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have dragged you here, into this-"

"Castle" she straightened herself up and watched him carefully, pushing loose strands of hair from her face. "I am your partner. We stick with each other through thick or thin and I'm not going to back out now. It it's taken me three years to endure you and not back out, I'm sure as hell not going to do that now" He observed her face for a few moments until he squeezed her hand and with hopeful confidence stood to his feet, pulling Beckett up with him.

**AN: I'll update tomorrow if I can! I hope you liked this chapter :) Feel free to leave me a review or a message, I'd love to get to know some of you! 3**

**Love lynne xo**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Oh my gosh, if I had realised how long it had been since I had last updated this; I would have had plenty of chapters up by now! Hope y'all enjoy this chapter!**_

_**Lynne xo**_

Castle watched from his staircase as CSU swept his loft, picking up sheets from the almost invisible floor and dust for prints along any surface they could find. They all looked the same, dressed in blue jumpsuits while the large white letters traced on the back of their jumpsuits declared their profession; not that the silver cases gave anything away. His floor eventually became visible again while boxes lay in the centre, packed full of bagged sheets. Castle watched as one of them ripped his couch apart while his glasses slid down his nose and Castle frowned. Would he get to recognise any part of his house when all this torture was over and done with? He watched as another investigator shuffled past him, holding plastic bags with some of Alexis' belongings.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Castle asked, standing up and stopping him dead in his tracks.

"My job" he replied with attitude in his voice and shot Castle a dirty look. Castle stared him straight on and clasped his hands as the investigator turned to continue on his way when Castle stopped him again and he turned around.

"Why are you taking things from my daughter's bedroom? I want to see what you're taking!" he insisted. He agreed to let them look in her room, but not to take stuff from there and grew agitated at the investigators ignorance.

"I'm afraid I cannot let you touch anything sir"

"It's my house, my daughter and our belongings; I have the mayor and best cop on speed dial. So if you don't-"

"Hey, just give him the bags to look at Stewie" Beckett came up behind the investigator, making him jump on the spot and arched her brow at the small man who just stared at her. He almost reluctantly handed castle the bags and wandered off in the direction of Castles office. Beckett turned her gaze back to Castle who sat back down on the staircase; holding the bags one by one up to the light.

"You have me on speed dial?"

"Yeah, Number 3" he nodded, tilting his head towards one of the bags while Kate smiled at his answer. She found it strange since he was number 2 on hers but she wasn't complaining. She noticed how interested he had become in the bags and sat down next to him; he then passed her a curious look.

"Anti-depressants?"

"Alexis was suffering from depression?" she couldn't help but ask and he exchanged a similar confused look until Beckett took a closer look at the capsule of pills. She squinted toward the tiny print and glanced to Castle who had his lower lip upturned.

"Does the name _Ashley_ ring any bells?"

"Hey! That's Alexis' boyfriend" he rested his head on his clenched fist and she raised her brows while tilting her head.

"So…Ashley's anti-depressants were in Alexis' room; either she's taking prescribed drugs that are meant for Ashley or hiding them for Ashley"

"With all due respect Kate, _My_ Alexis wouldn't"

"Don't worry Castle, my queries were aimed more towards the latter possibility" A smile came to her lips and he nodded in understanding while he looked at the other plastic bags with keen interest. If Alexis had Ashley's drugs, who knows what else Ashley could have given her to stash away?

"I got this for her 16th birthday, you know" he seemed proud as he showed her the silver necklace and she smiled at how happy it made him feel. You didn't have to be a detective to see that was genuine love in his eyes, she loved that type of Castle who under his 9 year old persona; was a caring father and loyal partner and friend at the end of the day. She noticed how expensive the necklace was, she guessed a couple hundred but with an incoming like his, it was bound to be. Her smile faded when a major imperfection came to her eyes while Rick failed to notice it until she pointed it out to him. "It's broken"

"She was wearing this necklace this morning, she wears it every morning. He must have…" his jaw dropped at the thought that stayed at the front of his mind and he shook his head. He just wanted this to be all over, he just wanted his Alexis back in his arms and in view where he could never let her out of his sight again. _Ok maybe not completely out of sight, just enough to make sure nothing like this would ever happen again. _He wasn't even sure if he should call Meredith at this stage especially when she hadn't seen Alexis in months and when she was on the other side of the country.

"Her kidnapper ripped it from her neck"

"Y-you might be able to get a partial print from it if-if-if-" She clamped her hand over his and he suddenly relaxed. He knew she thought he was getting too excited over a possible lead towards his daughters kidnapping case and it wasn't healthy…none of this was.

"Listen to me Castle, _we'll _find something that will crack this case wide open and I'll get Alexis home to you. I will, right now I want you to go upstairs, grab a sports bag and pack whatever you need. I have a spare room back at my place you can stay there as long as you want to" she added, studying his face carefully until he nodded and stood with the help of the railing and dragged himself to his bedroom at the end of the hall. She watched after him, walking in slow footsteps while his arms hung limply by his sides. She leaned against the wall and let her head fall into her hands while she massaged circles into her temples.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! I want to thank everyone who put this story on alert, who put me, as an author on alert…and ofcourse to all who read the last chapter and to my reviewers. Thank you very much :)**

**I really hope you enjoy this chapter and I would love to hear your thoughts! x L.**

Beckett found herself wandering down the street next to Castle who had a red sports bag over his shoulder and a blank expression coming across his face. A strong wind brew in the air and her hair began to blow into her face, forcing her to push it away. As they passed, she noticed all the places they had ran past to get to Castles place and slowed down to stay at the same pace as Castle who seemed to be in a completely different world altogether. "Ryan said he'd let us know as soon as possible if anything comes up" she tried encouraging him to look on the bright side, but failed when he sent her a forced nod and Castle continued to look out onto the passing traffic. _Would she ever get to see the old Castle again?_

"Why would Ashley keep drugs in _my_ house? I knew there was something about him" he furrowed his brows and she whipped her head around to the sound of his voice and the questioning stare he was sending her.

"Maybe family issues? We can go question Ashley tomorrow if you like?" she suggested, pulling her cuffs down over her hands to keep them from the coldness of New York and he then faked a smile in a vain effort to keep her satisfied that he would be ok. In fact, he was far from okay. As crazy as it seemed, he just wanted to sit in a corner and push the world from him; to not speak or even come in contact with anyone for as long as he could.

The precinct came to his view, a spotlight shining down onto the door illuminating the big '12' figure tacked to the double doors. Cops in uniforms spilled from the doors and they walked passed them, Beckett nodding in courtesy to them as Castle kept his anti-social face on until they walked to the elevator that much to Castles hope, was empty. But the elevator proved to be a task in itself for Castle. It was an agonising wait until they reached their floor and exited it; walking straight to the bullpen. Castle could see it sooner than Beckett had the stares of people that yelled 'crazy people' instantly and Beckett stared back, just to put them out of their comfort zone. Ryan hid behind his monitor, afraid to take a peek in case he gained a death glare from either one of them for looking as Castle slumped into his chair, staring off into space. Beckett sat down and shot Ryan a heads up with a smile and he nodded back with a wave of the hand before glancing between Beckett and Castle and gave her an eye movement that said 'How's Castle?' She tilted her hand over and back and he noticed the sign straight away; returning to his work. She stood up and looked at the timeline.

"Yo Beckett" Esposito bounded down to her as she glanced at the timeline drawn up on the board. Ashley's name kept flashing out at her from the board and she sighed. She didn't want Ashley to be part of this for Alexis' sake; but if his belongings were part of evidence; he'd have to be called in. As empty as the murder board was, it was a start. Anything was good in her books.

"Mrs. Jenkins heard disruption from next door at approximately 8.46am this morning"

"-and she never called it in?" she questioned, furrowing her brows toward him and he pressed his lips together, shaking his head.

"No, Here's the thing, she said her Phone has been broken for the past two weeks and had to be replaced but concluded with saying it wasn't worth calling in as she guessed it was just Castle and Alexis getting ready for school and work or watching their tv" An arched eyebrow was sent Beckett's way and she folded her arms, leaning off the edge of her desk as she took in the information. Had Mrs. Jenkins been that elderly woman who had winked at her just three hours before?

"-and she's not camera shy either" he posted a picture to the murder board of the very woman she had met in Castles building and scrunched up her nose at the picture. Not in a bad way, not at all; she was just completely confused.

"She's winking"

Esposito shrugged. "Apparently she has an eye condition"

"So Mrs Jenkins heard the break in?"

"Well that's how it's coming across" he added, tapping the file off his palm while he watched murder board closely with keen interest. He scribbled Mrs. Jenkins name under her picture and Beckett stood closer to the timeline, picking up a red marker.

"At 8.45am Alexis should have been leaving for school right? So if Mrs Jenkins heard a disruption from next door right after that, something had to have stopped Alexis from leaving for school that morning" She wrote down the times along the timeline and stopped, glancing toward Esposito for a brief moment then stood back; biting her lip.

"If only she left five minutes earlier" he started and they both agreed. Alexis is a smart girl, she wouldn't back down if it came to manipulating someone through intelligence.

"Ok, can you and Ryan pull up security footage from the building and call me when you get them?"

"Sure" She nodded appreciatively at him as he walked off towards Ryan who was huddled behind his desk and quickly got his cue to follow Esposito and followed him down the corridors. Beckett glanced down to Castle who was still in a trance and Kate ran her fingers through her hair and turned to Castle who passed her a glance before holding it through onto a gaze. He was back in his trance again.

She sat down crossing a leg under her other leg and leaned back. She was so tired but she had to find Alexis. She didn't care if she had forced Castle to keep the blame from himself but at this moment, getting Alexis back was her priority and this whole case was her responsibility. She couldn't let a lead slip because of an odd mistake she could make while being tired. Glancing back up at the murder board from where she sat, she stared at the picture of Ashley that had been recovered from Alexis' room and was tacked onto the board, his eyes staring back at her and she gulped. A 17 year old boy couldn't possibly have something to do with this could he? She couldn't help but wonder, as she seen how little was on the murder board and looked back to Castle who was staring at the floor, She had made a promise to Castle, she was on his side no doubt about it and she wasn't going to let it go too fast.


End file.
